All I Want For Christmas
by lorrswim34
Summary: Zelda's 8 year old daughter, Emilia, has never spent any holiday without her family. After Sabrina wins 4 tickets to Jamaica with the help of Aunt Zelda, Christmas looks perfect until they find out the resort is for people 18 years or up. More inside
1. We're going to Jamaica!

All I Want For Christmas

A Sabrina the Teenage Witch Fan Fiction

By Lorraine aka Lorrswim34

**Summary: Zelda's 8 year old daughter, Emilia, has never spent any holiday without her family. After Sabrina wins 4 tickets to Jamaica with the help of Aunt Zelda, Christmas looks perfect until they find out the resort is for people 18 years or up. Features another side of Willard Kraft no one has ever seen. Takes place in Episode 4x12 Sabrina Nipping at Your Nose (beginning is basically the same as episode)**

The spirit of Christmas surrounded every corner of the Spellman house. The fireplace was burning hot, and the tree was heavily decorated with a abundance of presents flowing from the bottom. The smell of gingerbread and the sound of Christmas songs filled the air as Zelda and Hilda baked cookies, letting Emilia decorate them and lick the spoon as Salem, the cat, sat on the counter trying to steal any cookie dough he could find.

"Can't I have one teeny, winey bite?" Salem whined as he stared at dough covered spooned, reaching out with his paw. Emilia couldn't help but give into her furry best friend.

"Here Salem, but promise me you won't eat my gingerbread house this year"

"I promise," Salem said with a little cry. Emilia placed a tasting portion of cookie dough by the cat's feet, while she worked on perfecting the detail of her gingerbread family. Emilia was like her mother in every way. She carried the blonde hair, blue eyes, and magical powers like all the Spellman women, but had inherited her mother's maturity, brains, kindness, and down to earth, loving nature. Her warlock father had never been in the picture, since he ended up leaving her mother when she was 6 months pregnant. The man hated kids and decided to get out while he could. Emilia loved her family the way it was though and wouldn't have it any other way.

"Gosh, I love Christmas." Emilia said as she as she finished decorating her cookies. "What's your favorite Christmas memory Salem" The talking cat didn't need more than a second to think of his favorite Christmas.

"When my mother would bake gingerbread, and realize the oven was set too high then the screaming would start." Salem sighed "Oh do I love Christmas."

"Salem I hate to ruin your warm Christmas memories," Hilda started "But Zelda and I aren't getting you an eighteen wheel big rig."

"But it's all I asked for," Salem whined.

"Salem. Christmas isn't about the presents; it's about being with family." Emilia stated with a twinkle in her eye.

"That's my girl." Zelda said as she gave her daughter a kiss.

"But a Wizard of Oz Dorothy Barbie would be nice." Emilia hinted in her most charming voice putting a smile on her mother's face.

A draft entered the room as Sabrina walked in from the cold December air. Sabrina hated the constant snowy weather. Closing the door behind her, Sabrina took of her coat and scarf with a look of anger and disgust.

"This cold snap is making me snap. I hate this time of year." Sabrina said as she sat down at the kitchen table and grabbed the nearest gingerbread man.

"You're not anti Christmas again are you?" Zelda asked remembering about Sabrina's little mishap in which she erased Christmas.

"No, I just hate this weather, I love Christmas."

"Good, because I made you gingerbread man Sabrina." Emilia held up her gingerbread family which consisted of 4 blonde gingerbread women, and one gingerbread cat.

"Thank you Mia, and this year I promise not to crumble it in my hand." Sabrina hugged her cousin and then went back to listening to the radio.

"Tired of the winter weather," The station announcer said in an enthusiastic, attention catching tone. "Well WWBG has you covered. Be the first caller to answer a question and you will win 4 tickets and a stay at a resort in Jamaica starting Christmas Day!" As soon as she heard Jamaica, Sabrina jumped from her seat with excitement.

"Four tickets to Jamaica! That's perfect, but first we got to win." Sabrina ran to the phone, carefully listening to the DJ from WWBG

"The category is Science" boomed the DJ

"Science! We've won. Aunt Zelda just answer it?" Sabrina begged handing her aunt the phone

"Sabrina I don't know everything about science." Hilda responded to her sister's modesty with "She only thinks she does."

"Hey!" shouted Emilia, followed by an over exaggerated frown directed toward her favorite aunt which ended up with a makeup hug. During this time, Zelda signaled for her daughter and sister to quite down so she could hear the question

"Here is your question," the DJ said after a few minutes of being on the phone. "What parameter measures the relative magnitude of viscous forces, the coriolis forces and the rotating flow of viscous, incompressible fluids?" After hearing the question on the radio, Sabrina and Hilda turned to each other both think "what the heck did he just ask?" while Zelda and Emilia seemed amused by how easy the question was.

"Well every one and their donkey knows that," Zelda said to the WWBG DJ "Ekman Number," with her daughter quietly whispering the answer.

"Congratulations! You just one a trip for 4 to a resort in Jamaica," boomed from both the radio and the other end of the phone. After giving her name and address, Zelda hung up prepared for the excitement to come

"Woohoo!" We're going to Jamaica, We're going to Jamaica!" Sabrina yelled followed by a happy dance.

"I can't wait!" Emilia said as she ran over to her mother and hugged her as tight as her little arm would let her "Thank You Mommy! This is the best present anyone can ask for. I'm packing right now." After letting go, the tiny blonde dashed for the stairs, her hair flying behind her, she quickly stop on her feet when she heard her name called from kitchen she had just left.

"Mia, try on your bathing suits before you pack them and don't bring you entire room with you." Zelda said.

Emilia smiled before she turned back on her heel and ran up the stairs. Her mother knew her too well. When she reached the top of the stair case, Emilia turned left and went down the hallway to her room. Walking in, Emilia's eyes were flooded with the color pink, powder pink from the walls to the magenta of her bed spread. Emilia's room fit her personality in every way. The room was spotless, not a thing was thrown on the floor or out of place. Two bookshelves stood on the far wall with her desk sandwiched in between. Each book shelf was filled to capacity with well loved books and some of Emilia's prized possessions.

Emilia opened her closed, pulled out her suitcase and through it on her bed. She then began her own little fashion show. With a point of her finger, and a pink sparkle of magic, Emilia changed into her favorite bathing suit. It was a white tankini with pink and blue polka dots. The little witch looked in the mirror and started posing. All and all it fit her with perfection, and was zapped into her suitcase without even thinking. This charade continued for an hour or so until Emilia was interrupted by a knock on her door, in the middle of modeling her blue, tie dye bikini.

"Almost done?" Zelda asked as she took a seat on her daughters bed.

"Yes just trying on this last bathing suit. How's it looking?" Emilia said posing again.

" Perfect. Work it for the camera!" Zelda said holding up her fingers in a square and pretending to snap the shoot. Emilia played along continuing to pose. She then zapped the swimsuit into her bag and zapped back into her Christmas sweater and jeans.

"Time for bed, sunshine."Zelda said picking up the heavy suit case and sliding it under the bed

"Alright, but can I read for a few minutes?" Emilia begged.

"No, you have school tomorrow and a few minutes will turn into a few hours." Emilia gave in knowing she wouldn't win. With a pink sparkle of magic, she zapped herself into her Hello Kitty pajamas, and walked to the bathroom to brush her teeth next door. She came back 3 minutes later to find her mother sitting on her bed, waiting to tuck her in.

Emilia ran to her bed and climbed under the warm mountain of covers, making herself comfy. "Goodnight Mama." She said looking into her mother's matching blue eyes.

"Goodnight Ladybug." Zelda kissed her daughter on the forehead, and turn the lights of as she was closed the door behind her.

Even with all the excitement it didn't take long for her to fall asleep. Still it was hard to sleep, knowing that in 3 days she would be going on her first Caribbean vacation. Life was good…for now.


	2. The Day Before Christmas Eve

Emilia opened her eyes and was instantly greeted by the sunrise that barely filled her window. After stretching a little, the blonde girl sat up in her comfy, full size bed and looked at the clock that sat on her nightstand.. 6:33 it read, exactly 42 minutes before her real wake up time. Emilia took advantage of waking up early, sprung out of bed and silently walked over to her book shelf.

"What should I read today," The tiny blonde thought as she looked at the hundreds of books, each on bigger than the next. Letting her eyes wander across the thousands upon thousands of pages in front of her, Emilia finally found her book of the day, Little Women. Standing on her tippy toes, she quickly grabbed the book from the top shelf and hopped back onto her bed. After turning on her side table lamp Emilia began to read, getting lost in the world of Jo March and her Civil War New England…

Zelda sat at the kitchen table with papers in one hand and coffee in another. She was still in her pajamas, and her hair was tied up in a messy pony tail with her glasses hanging on the bridge of her nose. She had been up since the crack of dawn going over her lecture on her latest discovery of her newest element Emilium, which she named after her precious little girl. Today was the day she would be presenting her finding to the Other Realm Science Conservatory. Zelda was both excited and nervous, something she always experienced when presenting. She loved talking about her discoveries with her fellow colleagues. However, them being all men made it a little nerve racking to try and read their non verbal thoughts. Looking at the kitchen clock she saw it was 7:16, time to get the day started.

Zelda laid her papers neatly on the table and began to ascend the stairs to the upper level of the old Victorian she called home. When she reached the top she could hear racket from her niece's room, and knew she was up and about, getting ready for the last day of school before Christmas Vacation. As she turned left and walk down the hall, Zelda noticed her daughter's room was just as still and quiet as when she woke up at six that morning. Turning the doorknob to her daughter's room , she was not in the least surprised to see her daughter sitting flat on her belly, her knees comfortably flexed behind her and her arms propped up, holding a book almost as big as her. Although her daughter was oh so young and needed sleep, she couldn't help but smile at the sight.

"Emilia Hildegard Marie Spellman! How long have you been up?" Zelda asked, a chersire like smile on her face. As soon as the little girl heard her mother voice, her head jerked in her direction, realizing she had been caught. Looked at the clock she saw that she had lost track of time and forgot to put the book down to go back under the covers and pretend to sleep. After a few seconds of silence, she knew she wouldn't be able to lie. Her mother knew how fast she read and it was obvious by how far she was in the book she had been up far longer than a couple of minutes.

"Honestly, I've been up since 6:30, but I promise I'm not tired! I was so excited for it to be the last day of school before Christmas. And besides, I doubt we'll do anything excited in school anyway. Just do childish arts and crafts and play with glitter like we are 7 year olds." She said quite maturely. Although she was only a year older than that she still felt wiser than her age, as if she was a 40 year old trapped in a little girl's body. She looked at her mother, a witty smile shining on her face. She took a sign of relief when she heard her mother say "Fair enough." With that, the little blonde witch hopped out of bed and meticulously began to make it, careful to make sure that every corner was straight and there were no wrinkles. When her task was done, she changed into her school clothes with a flick of the finger. After the pink glitter of magic disappeared, Emilia was clad in white tights, a red sweater, a denim skirt that reached her knees, and her favorite black mary janes. Her blonde curls were pulled back with a matching red head band, leaving her looking cute but school appropriate. She then headed down the back stairway, her backpack dangling from her shoulder, but not before brushing her teeth and grabbing her novel to read during recess.

When she got downstairs breakfast was laid out on the counter as usual, her waffles on a plate with two slices of bacon and dripping in sweet maple syrup along with a glass of milk. A great start to a hopefully great day.

"Morning Everyone." She said quite cheerfully, giving her aunt a big hug and a peck on the check, and doing the same to her mother as she grabbed her breakfast and petting Salem on the head before sitting down. As she began to cut into her waffles, her aunt said

"Someone's cheerful this morning," It was true. Normally on the last day before a school break, Emilia was quite bitter sweet. She loved school, the smell of freshly sharpened pencils, the sound of chalk on a black board, the feeling of raising her hand before anyone else. Summer vacation although fun, was still filled with the yearning to go back to learning and so her mother had no choice but to give her lessons over the summer to keep her mind from turning to mush!

"Well it is almost Christmas and this year was going on vacation to Jamacia! I'm over the moon," she said, taking a sip from her glass. She soon heard the footsteps from her cousin , the last to arrive as usual, and continued to eat as she made she good morning rounds. They would have to leave for the bus soon, and she didn't want to be hungry all morning. She did however put her fork down for her cousins good morning hug. As soon as she finished the last of her waffles, the clock showed it was time to head out. Hopping off her seat, the blonde girls began to dress in order to protect themselves from the cold weather. As she placed her black beret on her head, Emilia asked her mother quite innocently. "Can I ride my bike to school? It isn't icy out and Russell's parents are letting him ride his bike." She knew the answer would be no by the look on her face and the small shake of her head.

"I'm sorry sunshine, but there's a chance of snow today and I don't want you to get hurt if it does. And besides if Russell jumped off a bridge, would you." Emilia smiled at this question, although she knew her response would change a thing. "I think you can do that at some amusement parks for a dollar," She heard her Aunt, Sabrina, and Salem chuckle a bit, while her mother just shook her head. "My answer is still no, but I promise you on the first day of spring you can ride your bike every day if you want. Now good bye sweetheart and have a great day?" She said, hugging her daughter, making sure her hat was straight and handed her her lunch. And with that Sabrina and Emilia were out the door. Harvey was waiting outside in his car for Sabrina, and as she hoped in, Emilia couldn't help but be a little jealous her cousin didn't have to take the bus, but Harvey's car was only a two seater and so after a few hello's and goodbyes, the two teenagers were off, leaving the little blonde to walk alone to her bus stop. It was quite cold, but Emilia didn't mind it. Cold helped her think better and she also loved the smell of winter, the icy smell of snow, the icicle hanging from the trees and roof tops, although she couldn't help but be excited about spending a usually cold and wet Christmas in the warm and dry, salty aired island of Jamacia. She smiled at this thought and when she reached her bus stop, her best friend, one of her only friends, couldn't help but notice.

"Someone's happy," Russell said. Russell was Libby Chestler's step brother, and although his step sister made him seem like the spawn of the devil, he was quite the opposite. He was an outgoing and kind guy, smart too, who seemed to be able to make friend's with anybody. Not to mention the fact he knew how to torture his step sister like a professional. He was the one who stuck up for Emilia on the first day of third grade. She was the youngest in class, having skipped a grade, and after using jargon on their teacher could understand to describe a story they were reading, the kids began to tease her by calling her all sort of names for Encyclopedia Spellman to Emilia the Alien. Russell put a stop to that and they had been friends since.

"Is it really that noticeable?" She asked.

"Yeah! I mean usually you're all moppy when we have a snow day, let alone a break and today your acting, well, like a normal kid," She said jokingly and lucky for him Emilia realized he was kidding

"Haven't you heard? Normal is over rated. But well the reason I'm in such a good mood is because my mom one my family a trip to Jamaica so instead of being her in the cold, we are going to be basking in the sun and swimming in the warm Caribbean Sea on Christmas."

Russell's face seemed to light up as she talked, His eyes dancing at her description of her soon to be Christmas.

"Please pack me in your suitcase and take me with you."He begged quite dramatically. That was another thing about Russell. The years of acting hurt and fake crying to get his step sitter in trouble had made him a fantastic actor.

"Sorry Rusty, but how about I bring you back a t shirt," She compromised, patting the boy on the back

"Far enough." He smiled and as soon as he finished talking, the bus arrived to take them to school. Grabbing a two seater, the duo spent the short ride talking about what they hopped they would be getting for Christmas as well as what they though there teacher, Mrs. Knapik, would have them do on the last day in class. Russell hoped they would be making Gingerbread promised, like he heard she did on this day from older kids in the school. Emilia wished the opposite. She wanted to have a intellectual discussion on the evolution of Christmas, but she knew the world would set on fire before that would happen.

As soon as the two walked into the class room, Russell's prediction was correct. They smell of freshly backed gingerbread filled the air and right on the front desk was bottles of icing, bags of candy, and plates filled with mouthwatering cookies. Emilia took her coat and hat off and placed it on the hook with her back. She took her school supplies and her novel to her desk, which was sadly on the other side of the room as Russell's. She was stuck in front to Monica and Nicole, two girls that were beyond cliquey. The two best friends loved to gossip about everyone in the class that wasn't in their little pack, but Emilia tended to ignore them. The blonde believed she could find microbes smarter than them. Emilia read her novel, ignoring their cheeping and chattering until class was started. After taking attendance, Mrs. Knapik told the class they would be making ginger bread houses this morning, and that later they would watch the movie a Christmas story. The entire class cheered while Emilia stayed silent. The morning thankfully passed by quickly and Emilia build a her house right next to Russell, who's house looked like a hut hit by an earthquake. The bell rang signaling recess, and everyone split up in there little groups, Monica and Nicole sat with their group of friends, playing MASH, braiding each other's hair and obviously making rumors about someone in the school, the boys took out the legos and began to build some fort, and other kids played bored games. Emilia sat at her desk and read, another avid reader, by the name of Susan, joining her. Susan was the most like her, out of all the kids, she was shy and sweet to everyone. Today she was reading Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The series had proven to be a favorite of both girls and Emilia couldn't wait for Susan to finish it so she could discuss it with her and predict what the third book would bring. Emilia couldn't help but laugh though at the author's view of magic. Witches didn't use wands and no one flew broomsticks anymore, but that would be Emilia's little secret. She already got made fun of enough as it was. If the secret of who she really was came out, she would be done for. Her mother had warned her for the first day of school to never use magic around her classmates and so far she had kept that present, but on days where she felt like giving Monica and Nicole and beak to match their hen like attitudes was when she really had to avoid temptation.

As soon as recess ended, Emilia went over to the coat rack to grab her stuff. Because classes her had not proven challenging enough, it had been decided that every Tuesday and Thursday, Emilia would go across the street to West Bridge High to take Pre Calculus and Biology. She was grateful for the opportunity because she was able to stay with Russell and be with people her own age, without feeling bored in school all the time. After she got her outerwear on, she wished her teacher a Merry Christmas and placed a small box of chocolates on her desk. Although the walk was short, she enjoyed it none the less. The air was fresh and crisp and refreshing after being trapped inside all day. Walking into the high school she was greeted by warm, humid heat that made her want to take her jacket off immediately. As she took off her jacket, she was greeted by the stares she was quite used to after doing this gifted learning program for the last four months. She doubts anyone would ever be used to an 8 year old walking their halls. She wasn't here to make friends. She was here to learn. She headed to the Biology class and noticed that she was the first one there. The lunch bell rang soon after, though meaning the place would be flooded soon. She took a seat at the front of the classroom on her usual stool and smiled at Mr. Pool. She enjoyed the way he taught, humorous yet through. They chatted for a couple of minutes about life, him asking about her mother like every other class. She knew him and her mother had had a short relationship when she was 4, but it was to brief for her to recall. Her answer was always the same, fine and then she quickly changed the subject to the latest news of the science community. Emilia was saved from the awkwardness of their conversation by the start of class and as quick as it began, it was over, today it being a debate about cloning. Pre Calculus was next, but before she could reach her next class, she ran into her mother's boyfriend, Mr. Kraft. He had been giving a student detention when she saw him, and immediately after his emotion changed from mean to cheery. Emilia liked Mr. Kraft although her cousin called her crazy for doing so, but he had never been mean to her, not once. Her mother had been dating him for a year and a half now and she knew that they would probably get married someday; the whole family figured they would. Eventually he would be her step father, and thankfully they would be having a good relationship, unlike the horror stories she had heard from Russell about his step mother.

"Hello Emilia, How are you doing today," he asked quite nicely. Smiling she awnsered back

"Pretty Well. An yourself?" She asked in her usually mature tone

"Can't complain. I bet you're excited for Christmas! Your mother told me you got me the perfect gift," He seemed eager to know what it was, but Emilia refused to tell.

"It is but you're just going to have to wait and see like I'm going to have to wait and see the perfect gift you and my mother apparently got me," She said with a little smirk. She was always one to have a comeback.

"You are absolutely right! We will just have to wait and she when we open presents on Christmas morning," he said quite happily. That was when Emilia realized he didn't know that the Spellmans would be gone one Christmas Eve and Christmas day. According to the DJ, they had a flight from Boston to Jamaica on the 24th, leaving Willard to have to spend Christmas alone. She wanted to tell him, she really did, but she didn't want to ruin his good mood. Putting on the best face she could she said

"Yes! We shall. I better get going to class," she said quite hurried. She hopped this would get her out of this conundrum

"Of course. Well have fun leave some answers for the other kids." And with that he was off, immediately giving detention to some kid wearing a Yankee's hat to school. She somehow got through Pre Calculus despite her constant brooding. Mrs. Quick didn't seem to notice, but her cousin did. When question, she just said she was tired, and Sabrina stopped bothering her after that. As soon as the bell rang, she grabbed the candy cane Mrs. Quick handed her and hurried to the bus. Her cousin didn't bother her thankful as she had to go to work, but as soon as she sat on the bus, Russell began to interrogate her also and she knew that she wouldn't be able to escape him

"What's wrong Em? This morning you were all sunshine and rainbows and now you look as if you found out that J. K. Rowling isn't going to write again. Spill!" He said. She looked at him with her bright blue eyes, and he stared back at her with his own, sharper a gaze than hers. She knew that he wouldn't give up.

"Oh Russell. I just realized today that because my family is going away for Christmas, my mama's boyfriend is going to be all alone," she lamented

"Bummer." He said at first, leaving Emilia wide eyed and her jaw dropped to the floor

"Bummer? Really? Of all the things you could say you say bummer?" she asked quite seriously before shaking her head and laughing.

"Sorry missy but unlike you I have a limited vocabulary. But all kidding aside, you may think you're an adult Em, but you're not. You're 8. Your mom has to be the one to break the news. Don't be sad about it. Think about the amazing time you will have. And so what? He can spend a couple of days alone." Emilia smiled and then suddenly hugged the boy.

"Thanks Russell. That actually really helped," she said, and although she couldn't see his face, a huge grin from ear to ear appeared on the boys face.

As soon as they got off the bus, Emilia and Russell parted ways, wishing each other a Merry Christmas. It was a quick walk back to her house and she was excited to see her mother. She opened the front door in quite a rush, and stomped out her boots before stepping on the living room floor

"I'm home! She said, and looking to the couch, she saw her mother sitting on the couch. A sad and worried expression was on her face that changed the aura of the entire room. After hanging up her quote and a few moments of awkward silence

"What's wrong," She asked, walking over to her mother, and her aunt, who had a similar expression on her face.

"Sit down baby," her mother said, patting down to the spot right next to her on the couch

"The tickets for our trip came today along with the brochures for the hotel, but we have a little problem," She said quite seriously. "The resort we are staying at doesn't allow anyone under the age of 18 on their property." Emilia didn't need any explanation. As soon as her mother said that, the girl began to burst into tears. The trip she had been so excited for was ruined. She bet they would go without her, she knew Sabrina would force them. She wouldn't put it past her cousin to do such thing. She ran up to her room, and no one followed. She slammed the door to her room for one of the first times in her life, and began to sob into her pillow and fell asleep soon after from sheer exhaustion. Her perfect Christmas was now ruined and just like Mr. Kraft, she would be all alone.


	3. Family, Duty, Honor

Zelda had never felt more upset with herself in her life. She had made her daughter cry, which is something she had never had happen to her. Even as a baby, Emilia would stop crying and settle down in to a calmness or a slumber as soon as her mother picked her up and brought her to her chest. It was gave her great sorrow to know that instead of being comforted, her mother words had made her upset to the point of fleeing.

Hilda and Zelda sat silently in the living room, waiting for their niece to come home from work. She didn't want to talk, despite all the conversations Hilda tried to bring up, Zelda immediately gestured for her to be quiet. But Hilda did not let up, she wanted to go away now, just as much as Sabrina did.

"But Zelda, you have to cut the cord sometime. When was the last time you have had a vacation with just you? Just because you are a mother doesn't mean you have to be with her 24/7." She said, a pleading in her voice. Zelda glared at her sister. How could she be saying such things?

"You aren't a mother, you don't understand the bond me and Emilia have. I was the one who was in labor with her for 10 hours, I gave birth to her, I fed her and changed her, with little help from you or anyone and not because I had to, because I wanted to. I want to be there for my little girl, because eventually she won't be a little girl, she will be all grown up, on her own, not needed me, and frankly, she already tries to act like she can do everything on her own. A vacation in a crummy resort is not worth my daughter's happiness.

And after that she was silent, because for once, Hilda knew her sister was right. She had not experienced any of that, but instead just sat and watch, watched her sister's boyfriend leave her after a 5 year relationship, watched her work even know she was exhausted from the fatigue that came with pregnant, sat in the room for those 10 hours, watching her sister refuse all pain medication. She never had experienced breastfeeding or bonding, and she didn't know if she ever would. Sure, she could imagine it all, but in the end she really could not say she knew what her sister had went through

Sabrina came home around dinner, and as the Hilda, Zelda and Salem were about to eat, they looked up there stairs every few minutes, hoping to hear the footsteps of the youngest Spellman, but they didn't. Tension hung in the air, and as Sabrina walked into the kitchen, she could tell something was wrong.

"Who died?" Sabrina asked as she hung up her coat and hesitantly sat down, and waited to begin eating.

"Only your aunt's reputation as mother of the century." Hilda said sarcastically, but stopping when she saw her sister's icy cold stare, that immediately echoed "Stop before I make you stop."

"Emilia upset with me. We got the tickets today and well, she can't go to the resort because she isn't eighteen. I know you want to go, but I think we should forfeit the tickets. I refuse to leave my daughter to be on an island, knowing she is probably having a miserable Christmas." Zelda exclaimed with finite in her voice. Sabrina and Hilda pouted and before she knew it, Sabrina was on a tangent. "But it's Jamaica! We always stay home! And when is it that we can get free trip to Jamaica?" Sabrina said. "What about I and Hilda go with Harvey and well, someone that Aunt Hilda can find, and you stay home and have mother daughter time!

"Sabrina! Don't you think that is selfish? We are a family and Christmas is about being together as a family, not about escaping an unwanted climate." Zelda exclaimed. Sabrina backed down and pouted again, picked at her food.

"We will discuss this later, as a family." Zelda's word, as always, was the last and the family quietly at dinner, exchanging nothing but stares and glances. Zelda sighed, and put her fork down before standing up carefully and walking up the back stairway, the eyes of her sister and niece following her as she walked, both knowing where she was going.

Zelda knocked on her daughter's door lightly before opening it, glad it wasn't looked. Emilia was fast asleep curled up into a little ball, her stuff orange kitten under her arm. Her face was still red from crying and her air was a bit of mess, Zelda sat down on the edge of the little girl's bed, her hand naturally going to her hair, which began smoothing it down. Emilia began to stir, yawning before opening her eyes, them focusing on her mother immediately.

"Please don't leave me to be alone on Christmas like Willard." Emilia cried out with pleading eyes. Zelda smiled sadly, bringing her daughter in her arms, and kissing the top of her head before looking at her, taking her chin in her hand to make sure she saw everything she said.

"I would never do that to you. You are my baby, you will always be my baby, and I don't want to leave if I know you will be all alone. And Willard isn't going to be alone, he's going home to see his family in Monsey" Zelda smiled happily as she spoke, and her eyes tearing up from emotions

"But I feel so selfish making you stay at the same time. You have always been there for me, from the time I was a zygote until now. You deserve a break. If you really want to go, you can. I can ask Russell if I can stay with him." Emilia tried to smile at that. It was a flat out lie though, she knew Russell's step mother hated her, having hear her call her a freak whenever she went over to Russell's house to play. She would never be able to spend Christmas there, but it was a better solution than having to force her mother to stay home or find a baby sitter.

"Honey, you are not being selfish, you are being rational. We rarely get to spend time as a family and you know that next year your cousin will be away at college. I know she is like a sister to you and aunt Hilda is like a second mother, and when one has never had to spend a whole week away from their parent's, it can be scary, but not to worry, because I am staying right here with my favorite person in the entire world.

"I love you mommy." Emilia said planting a kiss on her mother's cheek before snuggling into her mother's chest. Zelda was still tearing up, even more so after that. Her daughter really was wiser beyond her years sometimes, but she really was still a little girl who needed her mother.

"I love you so much, and I've loved you ever since I found out you were coming into my life. Never forget that."

"I won't." Emilia's stomach proceeded to growl and the two women laughed, yet did not want to move from the comfy spot there were in.

"Come on sunshine, dinner is ready and I made your favorite, Shepard's Pie." Emilia got up slowly and waited for her mother to come with her, reaching out her hand. She knew her aunt and her cousin would be mad at her for not being able to go but, she knew the only way to make everyone happy was for them to go and her mother and her to stay home. Sure, it would still be a depressing Christmas, with the family not being fully together, but it would have to do. She had her mother, and that was all she really needed. Emilia walked down the stairs holding her mother's hand, and when she got to the kitchen, everyone looked up, even Salem stopped eating to see the scene unplay.

"Hi everyone." Emilia said trying to break the silence as she sat down and picked up her fork. No one seemed to know what to say, afraid of upsetting the girl again, and surprisingly, the little girl they were so worried of upsetting started up the conversation. "So here's the deal, You and Sabrina can go to Jamaica with Harvey and some other man you can find, and me and mommy will stay home and have a wonderful, family oriented Christmas." Zelda smiled a bit at her daughter's autonomy, and Sabrina and Hilda seemed to be shocked yet happy at the same time as they had gotten their way. Emilia smiled to as she began to eat her dinner, bringing a handful of buttery mashed potatoes to her mouth, her body happy to be getting some food, but she still was not happy that her family would be separated this Christmas, she tried to hid it, but one look at her mother, and the woman knew just what her daughter was thinking, feeling the same way as her.


End file.
